OK, I relent. I said in “I am not a policy wonk” that I wouldn’t turn Safety Differently into a checklistable, to-do algorithm or procedure. Well, now I have. Or at least in small part.

As most of you know, there are so many ‘Just Culture’ algorithms and flow charts out there, yet all they do is recycle a counterproductive retributive justice paradigm. They always boil down to: who broke the rule, how … Continue Reading ››

The most pressing question for many people who are already ‘sold’ on Safety Differently is ‘how do you do it?’ How do you enable and empower people and their organization to develop and implement Safety Differently? This is what micro-experiments help you do. If you’ve seen Safety Differently, the Movie, you will know about ‘The Woolworths Experiment.’ And if you’ve read the book The Safety Anarchist, you will have come across a more … Continue Reading ››

I coined the term ‘Safety Differently’ in 2012. It was the header of an email I sent to a motley group of company representatives—from Laing O’Rourke, Sunstate Cement, Queensland Rail, Origin Energy and others. I had newly arrived in Australia and had been approached by them to help critically examine the sense of safety ‘getting stuck,’ of a pervasive compliance culture that no longer generated much progress.
In the email to invite them to a new round of … Continue Reading ››

An able seaman has been ‘reprimanded’ for leaving the gangway hanging out while the vessel was shifting berth. Root cause – ‘lack of awareness’; corrective action – ‘risk assessment’. A third officer has been served a warning letter for missing out on monthly checks on a fire extinguisher resulting in non-conformance during a safety audit. Root cause – ‘complacency’; corrective action – ‘follow the procedures’. A crew member trips over an obstruction on deck and hurts himself. Root … Continue Reading ››

Over the last month have I become more familiar with the concepts of Safety I and Safety Differently and I must admit that after watching several of Professor Sidney Dekker’s videos I am hooked. What has really grabbed me is the emphasis on people providing solutions, with autonomy and engagement in what happens, and building on success rather than dwelling upon failure.
For over 20 years I worked for John Lewis and Partners … Continue Reading ››

Hello everyone in the Safety Differently community! I just wanted to take a few minutes of your precious time to update you on the happenings over here at SafetyDifferently.com and draw your attention to a few resources you might find interesting and useful.
Updates
So, as some of you may know already, I have taken over ownership of the site from Daniel Hummerdal. Daniel’s still around and will always be involved with the site to a … Continue Reading ››

Photo by Josue Isai Ramos Figueroa on Unsplash
In his 2014 Safety I and Safety II: The past and future of safety management, Erik Hollnagel makes the argument that we should not (just) try to stop things from going wrong. Instead, we need to understand why most things go right, and then ensure that as much as possible indeed goes right. It seems so obvious. Yet it is light years away from how most organizations … Continue Reading ››

In our rush to judgment we rarely intend to do harm. Often, we react to incomplete or even scant information, fit it into our own mental model of how things should be and then jump to conclusions that could inflict harm.
Last week, CBS Morning News showed a film clip of a man snagging a baseball from a kid who was sitting directly in front of him. The less than 10 second clip resulted in the vilification of … Continue Reading ››

I spoke at the Oil and Gas Task Force Zero conference 2018 not long ago. Taking the motto of the conference, “Face the Facts,” to heart, I walked the audience through a bunch of recent data from a range of industries on the relationship between injuries/incidents and fatalities. As we have long known (and as has been confirmed by Macondo, Texas City and other disasters in the industry), there is of course no meaningful relationship between … Continue Reading ››

Get Caught Trying to Make the World Better! Special thanks to Gary Weinstein and to the ALERRT conference 2018. Best Safety Podcast, Safety Program, Safety Storytelling, Investigations, Human Performance, Safety Differently, Operational Excellence, Resilience Engineering, Safety and Resilience Incentives Give this a listen. Thanks for listening and tell your friends. See you in the ER.

Get Caught Trying to Make the World Better! Best Safety Podcast, Safety Program, Safety Storytelling, Investigations, Human Performance, Safety Differently, Operational Excellence, Resilience Engineering, Safety and Resilience Incentives Give this a listen. Thanks for listening and tell your friends. See you in the Newton's Workshop.

Get Caught Trying to Make the World Better! This episode of the POD is mui importante! Listen carefully for new ideas. There are many Best Safety Podcast, Safety Program, Safety Storytelling, Investigations, Human Performance, Safety Differently, Operational Excellence, Resilience Engineering, Safety and Resilience Incentives Give this a listen. Thanks for listening and tell your friends. See […]

Get Caught Trying to Make the World Better! Best Safety Podcast, Safety Program, Safety Storytelling, Investigations, Human Performance, Safety Differently, Operational Excellence, Resilience Engineering, Safety and Resilience Incentives Give this a listen. Thanks for listening and tell your friends. See you in the store.